Hyperlinks - how to?

[Jillanne]

In my newsletter, I want to create a hyperlink to a specific website. The help feature is not helping me. Can anyone help?

I've went to the website, and copied the URL. Then I went to my newsletter, and went to create a hyperlink, and I chose "new", then copied the url into the url field and hit okay, and nothing. If I click in the "hyperlink menu" to the website that I named here, it goes there, but nothing happens in my document. There's no hyperlink.

 

[Foamcow]

Are you using Quark to make an HTML email newsletter?

If so, I'd be very cautious and seriously test the output in all the potential mail clients before you go any further.

Foamcow Heavy Industries - Web design and ranting
Toccoa Games - Day of Defeat gaming community
Target Marketing Communications - Advertising, Direct Marketing and Public Relations
"I'm making time

 

[Jillanne]

Okay, I have no idea what you mean here. Yes, this will be emailed to clients, all around the world in fact.

 

[Foamcow]

OK.

I have not used Quark for creating HTML. But I do have alot of experience in web design and coding.

I would be fairly certain that you will have problems with the way that the generated HTML works in different email programs.
They aren't all the same and some support HTML to a greater or lesser degree than others.

Particular problems occur when using CSS styles.. something that I think Quark will create.

Some mail programs will not support HTML at all.

Pop over to the Web design forum (Forum253) and/or do a search on this site for "HTML email". You will quickly get a feeling for the pros and cons of HTML email and the inherent pitfalls in creating HTML email newsletters.

Don't want to put you off, just warn you that it important you test your work at an early stage and understand the potential difficulties you may encounter.

Foamcow Heavy Industries - Web design and ranting
Toccoa Games - Day of Defeat gaming community
Target Marketing Communications - Advertising, Direct Marketing and Public Relations
"I'm making time

 

[Jillanne]

Well, you went way over my head here with your HTML talk. I know nothing about HTML. However, I believe I may have mis-spoke (or, at the very least, not made myself clear). I will be sending my newsletter VIA email, but it will be, most likely, in a PDF format.

Does that make sense?

 

[Foamcow]

Aha!
In that case forget everything I said

Make sure you include a link to download the PDF reader from Adobe's site though.

Foamcow Heavy Industries - Web design and ranting
Toccoa Games - Day of Defeat gaming community
Target Marketing Communications - Advertising, Direct Marketing and Public Relations
"I'm making time

 

[Jillanne]

Thanks, you REALLY REALLY REALLY had me freaking out..hehe.;

However, i STILL don't know how to get a hyperlink into my document.

 

[kat1011]

I am having a simular problem except I want to link to a page within my project. I am designing pages that will be added to my companies existing web site. I want to link items to other pages on the site. I am using Quark 6.0. and Mac X.0 I cannot get the software to recognize my page addresses -even when I copy and past the Url from my web preview. I must admit I am new at Quark 6.0 (been using 5.0).

 

[Foamcow]

So, you want to use Quark to create a document that you will convert to a PDF file. You want links within the PDF file to link out to websites/other documents?

I have not done this with Quark, but I will take a look and see if I can find an answer when I get back to work.

Foamcow Heavy Industries - Web design and ranting
Toccoa Games - Day of Defeat gaming community
Target Marketing Communications - Advertising, Direct Marketing and Public Relations
"I'm making time

 

[kat1011]

Yes, I suppose that's what will happen. In 6.0 you can actually create web layouts that act just like web pagees - preview and all. i may eventually copy these into Photoshop CS and imageReady to make the actual web content. Still want the links to work tho. It has been a long time since I worked with web pages and at that time i used Front page. New aspect of my job now - I have been working with printed media up untill recently.

 

[Foamcow]

I am a web designer/creative artworker. I looked at Quark 6 HTML creation and decided it wasn't for me. I am not sure on how compatible the code it produces is.

Foamcow Heavy Industries - Web design and ranting
Toccoa Games - Day of Defeat gaming community
Target Marketing Communications - Advertising, Direct Marketing and Public Relations
"I'm making time

 

[kat1011]

I am beginning to think you are probably right. I ended up copying the whole 5 pages that I have already created into a regular document and I will either let the IT guys deal with it or I'll work from Photoshop. Really just wanted a working layout for approval before actual work is done.

Other things about 6.0 are good but they probably need to tweek the web application.

kathyg
designer - software junkie

 

[Jillanne]

Foamcow -- were you responding to me, or Kat? I still need help with the hyperlink, and if you were respoding to me, yes, I'm creating a newsletter in Quark, copying it as a pdf, and the links within the newsletter will be pointing to actual websites on the internet.

 

[Foamcow]

Jillanne.

Are you using the "conventional" print type of layout in Quark or the Web layout tools?

If you are using Print, I am not sure if you CAN make the links work when you PDF the document. You will need to make them using Adobe Distiller.

If you are working in web mode. Then I really don't know.

I will try it out when I get to work, but I have been off work today (done my back in!). Should be in tomorrow though, painkillers allowing.

Foamcow Heavy Industries - Web design and ranting
Toccoa Games - Day of Defeat gaming community
Target Marketing Communications - Advertising, Direct Marketing and Public Relations
"I'm making time

 

[Jillanne]

Thanks Foamcow. I am using the conventional print layout (not web). Thanks for checking this out for me.

also -- hope your back is feeling better

 

[Foamcow]

OK.. bad back aside I am at work and I just took a look at the hyperlink question.

The good news is... it's easy!

I am using Quark 6.5 (free upgrade from 6.1 - not sure if this applies to 6.1, you'd be advised to get the upgrade anyway.)

Go to Window -> Hyperlinks

A pallete should open, click the "chain" icon for a new hyperlink.

Give the link a logical name

Enter the URL information in the dialogue box.
NOTE: don't add the "

http://",

just "

http://www.mysite.com"

is fine (although I can see that causing a problem for some URLS).

select the text you want to link, then click the link you want to apply to it.

When you PDF the document (Assuming you are doing it using Quark 6 built in Export to PDF function) click on Options and go to the Hyperlinks tab.
Make sure "inlcude Hyperlinks" is checked.

That's it.

There are a whole load of other options in there that you can play with. Such as making indexes and lists into links etc. I'll let you fiddle with those though.

Foamcow Heavy Industries - Web design and ranting
Toccoa Games - Day of Defeat gaming community
Target Marketing Communications - Advertising, Direct Marketing and Public Relations
"I'm making time

 

[Jillanne]

Foamcow. Thanks.

I followed all of your instructions, on the Quark side. The link is underlined. It doesn't go to the website when I click it -- but I'm not sure it's supposed to on the Quark side. So then, I went to export to PDF. (Normally, I don't do it this way, I usually just print the doc to Adobe and it becomes a PDF). So, I tried your way, exporting from Quark, and I keep getting an error message:
"to save a layout as a pdf file, a postscript printer must be set up to print to a file".

I've set my printer as Adobe, then changed it to a post script printer, still the same message. Any ideas? Will it matter if I just do it my way, and print the file to pdf instead of export? And also -- is the link supposed to work in Quark -- because if it is, I did something wrong.

 

[Jillanne]

Actually -- no go. I printed the quark document to adobe printer, and the links aren't even underlined, let alone actual "links".

I've tried to use the adobe feature -- (something about include all links -- and it keeps telling me no links were found)

UGHHHH!!

 

[Foamcow]

When creating the PDF you need to specify (somewhere) what to do with links.

Use Quark 6's built in PDF function (not Distillers add-on for Quark).
Go to File -> Export -> Layout as PDF

That will let you ensure that links are selected and remain active.

If that's what you are doing, then I don't know what to suggest since it worked perfectly for me.

I will take a look again when I get a few minutes.

Foamcow Heavy Industries - Web design and ranting
Toccoa Games - Day of Defeat gaming community
Target Marketing Communications - Advertising, Direct Marketing and Public Relations
"I'm making time

 

[Jillanne]

Unfortunately, that's exactly what I did, and it didn't work. I used Quark's export. File - export - layout as PDF. That's when I got the printing error.